Ritter says he'll block Piñon expansion

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said he will sign a bill to prevent the Army from buying or leasing land in southeast Colorado for a military training site.

Ritter told The Pueblo Chieftain that the bill is a safety net for farmers and ranchers who fear an Army takeover of their land.

"It may not be the last discussion we have on Piñon Canyon, but it's important to put this safety net in place," he said.

Ritter told the newspaper Saturday that he will sign the bill as soon as the paperwork is ready.

The bill bars the sale of land from the Colorado State Land Board for Army expansion. About 20 percent of the land the Army wants to use is owned by the land board.

The Army has said it needs to expand its training site near La Junta, about 140 miles southeast of Denver, to accommodate new weapons, tactics and soldiers. The Army's plan, announced more than three years ago, immediately drew the ire of landowners and congressional representatives who have fought the expansion, saying it would hurt the area's agriculture economy and permanently damage the land.

The original plan was to increase the 238,000-acre site by about 414,000 acres.

But the Army has slowly backed off, first saying last year the expansion would be scaled back to 100,000 acres. On Thursday, Army officials said no money would be budgeted next year to buy land at Piñon. Instead, the $17 million the Army had budgeted for construction at the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, which is used by Fort Carson soldiers, was transferred to Fort Polk, La.

Despite that, Lt. Col. Martin Downie, an Army spokesman in Washington, said the Army is still interested in future expansion at Piñon.

Ritter and some members of Colorado's congressional delegation have said the Army has failed to make its case for why they need the land.

In addition to the bill Ritter plans to sign, Democratic U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Betsy Markey have said they want to introduce legislation to prevent any future expansion at Piñon Canyon.

Salazar said he was "ecstatic and very happy" to hear that Ritter planned to sign the bill blocking the training site's expansion.

"This puts one more obstacle up against the Army," he said.